Boot camp blog: The final test for Marines

Friday

Oct 26, 2007 at 3:45 AMOct 26, 2007 at 4:33 AM

Editor's note: It's not just for shaved-head, dazed recruits any more. Sixty teachers, school counselors and reporters from Pennsylvania are at Parris Island, S.C., this week for an inside look at Marine Corps boot camp. She's not wearing boots, but Senior Managing Editor Susan Koomar will report this week on the adventure.

Editor's note: It's not just for shaved-head, dazed recruits any more. Sixty teachers, school counselors and reporters from Pennsylvania are at Parris Island, S.C., this week for an inside look at Marine Corps boot camp. She's not wearing boots, but Senior Managing Editor Susan Koomar will report this week on the adventure.The final exam for Marine recruits is 54 hours of simulated hell.

The final test

They wake at 1:30 a.m.

The Crucible, as it is called, starts at 2 a.m. with a six-mile hike.For more than two days, the recruits maneuver at an abadonded World War II airstrip and the piney woods that surround it. They get about four hours of sleep, and three MREs (meals) that they must ration for the duration.

We saw recruits slogging through part of The Crucible on Thursday afternoon.

For them, the test meant a faceful of sand as they low crawled through trenches and under barbed wire, pulling heavy boxes meant to simulate ammunition.

The recruits, already tiring, seemed to move in slow motion as a public address system provided a grueling soundtrack: the first 15 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" blasting from a loudspeaker. Chaotic sounds of exploding bombs, screaming men and relentless gunfire.

The Crucible includes team problem-solving exercises and physical challenges including a 10-mile night patrol.

The recruits march about 40 miles before it's all done.

But then, they are no longer recruits. They've completed the longest and - some say - most demanding training of any armed service branch.

They are Marines.

It's sink or swim for iron ducks

It's the mystery of Parris Island: Why join the Marines if you can't swim?

Or worse yet, if you are terrified of water.

Here, those recruits have a special name: Iron Ducks.

One Marine escort with our group said he almost drowned twice as a child. He overcame his fear of water thanks to boot camp training.

For some recruits, those Marine Corps cornerstones — courage, commitment — begin in the swimming pool. Do they have the courage to face their fears? Do they have the commitment to persevere and become a Marine?

"The water is one thing some of them have been avoiding for 18 years," an instructor told us Thursday morning.

The pool is the place where recruits advance from a basic doggie paddle to combat water survival training. Yes, they jump in the deep end with boots, helmet, flak jacket and backpack. Advanced recruits learn to swim pulling an injured comrade to safety.

In the shallow end, they practice high-stepping through water as if crossing a river filled with debris.

Ninety-nine percent of recruits — even those afraid of water — meet the requirements.

Trainers say the pool is one place on base where there is little yelling from instructors — a "low-stress environment."

"There's a lot more patience here," said one instructor.

The thunder in the sky over Beaufort, S.C., comes from the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station, not the looming storm clouds of the steamy lowland coast.

The sign at the entrance says "The 'Noise' You Hear is the Sound of Freedom."

Capt. John Reedy flies an F-18 Hornet, a $30 million jet fast enough to smash the sound barrier and nimble enough to be used by the Blue Angels for their aerial acrobatics.

We meet Reedy as part of our air base tour Wednesday. He flew reconnaissance in Iraq from October 2005 to February 2006.

"We flew every day there," he said.

Reedy worked to keep Marines safe on the ground — not by dropping bombs, but by providing eyes in the sky.

"As a Marine is moving through town, he wants to know what is going on around that block; maybe he hears a lot of noise. And maybe it's just a market with a lot of vehicles moving in and out," said Reedy.

As airborne observers, F-18 pilots can help forces avoid those deadliest of ground threats.

"We may see a vehicle on the shoulder of the road and Marines are moving towards it. It may be an IED," Reedy said.

He remembers one night when he saw something that could be an IED. There was trouble with the communications system and he couldn't get word to the ground. As troops approached the potential threat, he shot a laser pointer at the suspicious spot. It turned out to be nothing, but at least he was able to provide an alert.

Reedy showed us the rear catch on which a wire grabs the roaring jet to halt it on an aircraft carrier. He makes it sound easy — even at 150 mph landing speed.

"As soon as we hit the deck we go full throttle so if we miss the wire we can take off," he said. "If you miss it, it shouldn't be a big deal." The wire brings a jet to a complete stop in 150 feet.